Bill Text: NY A10591 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits employers from requiring access to social media accounts of applicants or current employees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-05 - referred to labor [A10591 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10591-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10591

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 5, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. L. Rosen-
          thal) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting employers from
          requiring access to social media accounts of  applicants  and  current
          employees

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section  201-h  to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  201-h.  Social  media inquiries by employers prohibited. 1. For the
     4  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following
     5  meanings:
     6    a.  "Employer"  shall include but not be limited to any person, corpo-
     7  ration, limited liability company, association, labor  organization,  or
     8  entity  employing  any  individual  in  any occupation, industry, trade,
     9  business or service, or any agent thereof.  For  the  purposes  of  this
    10  section, the term "employer" shall also include the state, any political
    11  subdivision  thereof,  any  public  authority  or any other governmental
    12  entity or instrumentality thereof, and any person, corporation,  limited
    13  liability  company, association or entity acting as an employment agent,
    14  recruiter, or otherwise connecting applicants with employers.
    15    b. "Social media account" shall mean an account for an  internet-based
    16  service that allows individuals to: (i) construct a public or semi-publ-
    17  ic  profile within a bounded system, created by the service; (ii) create
    18  a list of other users with whom  they  share  a  connection  within  the
    19  system; (iii) view and navigate their list of connections and those made
    20  by  others within the system; and (iv) participate in online communities
    21  to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content.
    22    2. No employer shall, orally or in writing, seek, request, or  require
    23  an  applicant  or  current  employee  to disclose information related to
    24  their personal social media  account  or  accounts,  including  but  not
    25  limited  to,  usernames, passwords, or the contents of such social media
    26  accounts.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16444-01-0
        A. 10591                            2

     1    3. No employer shall, orally or in writing, seek, request, or  require
     2  an  applicant  or  current  employee to provide the employer access to a
     3  social media account, including but not limited to, requiring an  appli-
     4  cant  or  current  employee  to open a social media account and show the
     5  contents of such account to an employer.
     6    4.  The  requirements  of  subdivisions  two and three of this section
     7  shall not apply to employers when it is reasonable to  believe  that  an
     8  applicant  or  current employee's social media account contains informa-
     9  tion which is related to an employee  misconduct  investigation  or  any
    10  violation of law.
    11    5.  A  violation of this section shall subject the offender to a civil
    12  penalty of up to one thousand dollars for the first violation and up  to
    13  five thousand dollars for any subsequent violation.
    14    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.